Curveball Book Review

Title:  Curveball #1
Series:  Curveball
Author:  Teresa Michaels
My Rating:  3.5 ♥♥♥'s 
Characters/romance=4 ♥'s
Suspense/plot development=3 ♥'s

*Thanks to Teresa for a free copy of Curveball to review.


Synopsis:

Breanne Sullivan’s world has been turned upside down. In the midst of an investigation surrounding her husband, Breanne returns to the corporate world she left years ago to raise her children. Now, a required business trip places her on Innovation Airways’ maiden flight sitting next to pitching sensation and self-proclaimed bachelor, Drew Scott.
Drew is charismatic, devastatingly handsome and has never encountered a woman he couldn’t have. That is, until he meets Breanne, whose attempts to deny the intense attraction they share only fuels Drew’s determination not to take no for an answer. But when the flight veers off-course and an unfathomable sequence of events forces them to rely on each other in a race for their lives, intentions quickly change. High-tech travel turns into a game of survival that invites temptation and threatens to push their desires over the edge. 
He’s a tempting distraction she has to resist. She’s an unexpected challenge he’s determined to have at least once. The question is, if she gives in will he be able to let her go?

My Review:

I enjoy discovering new authors, books, & characters to love.  If a book's synopsis is unique & interesting, I'm usually game to give it a try.  Curveball fits the criteria, tempting me to accept the book for a honest review in spite of my overfull reading calendar.  As I read, I found myself drawn into an intriguing story with a couple of main characters I soon found myself pulling for.  Breanne is a mother of 3 who has returned to the workforce after several years of staying at home, and Drew is a skirt chasing, hard drinking baseball player whose contract may or may not be renewed.  When they meet on the maiden voyage of a new, innovative airline, sparks fly.  However, things soon take an unexpected turn for the worse, & they find themselves stranded & in a race for their lives.  Michaels did a good job developing these characters and certainly made me care about them.  Breanne has an innocent air about her but turns out to be a strong heroine who can stand up for herself.  While Drew first came off as arrogant & a bit full of himself, I soon saw another side to the man, and I fell in love.  Their developing relationship sizzles even though both are in denial.  Great job with character development! 

While I found the concept of the story intriguing, I felt like the suspense/mystery plot was neglected somewhat in favor of the developing romance.  There are several unanswered questions at the end of the book...Who?  Why?  What are they after?  I won't discuss in detail because of spoilers but I wanted more of the suspense to be developed in this book.  While I'm sure it will be in the follow up, the lack of it in Curveball distracted from the overall purpose/pleasure of the book for me.  The ending is a cliffhanger, and while it did leave me wanting to read more, it also left me a little unsatisfied...questions raised early in the book are never really addressed in the story...I'm okay with everything not being resolved but not with it being almost totally overshadowed.

All in all, while there are a few issues, this is a good first book.  I look forward to more from this obviously talented author.  Great imagination & character development!

IWSG: What do you do with Time Feeders?

What is the Insecure Writers Support Group?

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds! Be sure to check out some of the other writers/bloggers at this link: Insecure Writer's Support Group

Happy New Year Everyone! I hope the new year brings you everything you've ever dreamed of in both your real life & writing career. Have you made a list of resolutions?

No long list of resolutions for me this year...but I am looking at setting mini-goals...looking at things I'd like to accomplish in 2015 and planning the steps that will take me there. My mini-goals include things like getting more organized, sticking to my writing schedule, blogging more often, and a big one for me - putting a halt to the Time Feeders!

In looking back at 2014, I've identified some ravenous Time Feeders that are gorging away, filling up on my time...more specifically - on my writing time.  I'm determined to slap the shackles on them this year & starve them out. What are Time Feeders? Anything that eats up your precious writing time!  For me, it's things like email (afterall, a girl needs to check it several times a day, right?), surfing the net (gotta do that research...Oh look - Another sale on shoes!), Twitter (getting the word out is important), Pinterest (what's life without pictures?), Goodreads (what? Oh yeah...gotta share your latest reads & promote your favorite author - plus yourself)...okay, you get the picture! These are all important things to do - they truly are...BUT they are also gigantic Time Feeders! How many days do you start out just doing a quick check of your email or Facebook account before settling down to work on your book or an article? How many of those days do you suddenly realize it's 2 or 3 hours later, and you're still checking email, FB, Twitter, or a combo of all the above?  I'm telling you it's those pesky Time Feeders!

I'm guilty of wasting way too much time with all the Time Feeders - also called Social Media accounts.  So, one of my main mini-goals in 2015 is to stop wasting time.  Period.  I'm setting daily time limits on myself for using my social media accounts.  I'm not saying it'll be easy to break old habits (it's an addiction) but it comes down to what's most important to me right now. I need more writing time. I spend a lot of time on social media. I need to devote more of that time to writing. So, Mini-Goal #1 for me: Starve the Time Feeders!  How about you?  Are you guilty of allowing social media to monopolize your time?

Again, Happy New Year everyone! I hope your 2015 is a happy, healthy, prosperous one. And I hope you can spend at least a little of it somewhere as beautiful as this beach.   And as with starfish, remember that sometimes it's the little things that count the most...one at a time.

Sandra

Cross My Heart...xxx